Generally, a silver halide photographic light-sensitive material is coated thereon with silver halide emulsion layers so spectrally sensitized as to have desired light sensitivities, respectively, so that a dye image can be formed upon reaction of a color developing agent with each of the yellow, magenta and cyan dye-forming couplers contained in the silver halide emulsion layers, respectively.
Among these couplers, the 5-pyrazolone type couplers having so far been used as magenta dye-forming couplers have a serious problem of a yellow stain causing a non-color-developed portion a yellowish color change when applying heat or temperature to them, that is so-called Y-stain, because the formed dyes have a side- absorption around 430 nm that is undesirable for color reproduction.
There are magenta couplers such as those of pyrazolobenzimidazole described in, for example, British Patent No. 1,047,612, those of indazoles described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,770,447, and those of pyrazoloazoles described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,725,067, British Patent Nos. 1,252,418 and 1,334,515, Japanese Patent Publication Open to Public Inspection -hereinafter referred to as Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication- Nos. 59-162548/1984 and 59-171956/1984. The dyes formed of the above-given magenta couplers have an extremely small side-absorption around 430 nm and extremely few Y-stains produced by heat or temperatures.
However, the dyes formed of the above-mentioned pyrazoloazole type couplers are low in light-fastness and, particularly, the commercial values thereof are seriously spoiled when they are used for color papers for direct appreciation. Therefore, various improvements thereof have been studied to solve the problems.
As for one of the improvements, there are some proposals for using various kinds of antifading agents and UV absorbents in combination. To obtain a satisfactory effect, a large amount thereof should be used. Resultingly, oil drops are increased to very often produce a sweating phenomenon, that is a phenomenon that the oil drops contained in a light-sensitive material are diffused and flocculated to produce liquid drops on the surface of the light-sensitive material or to make the liquid drops adhere to the surface thereof when the light-sensitive material is stored under the high temperature and high humidity conditions.
To inhibit the light-sensitive material from producing a sweating phenomenon, it is effective to increase an amount of binders to be added. However, it is found that only a simple increase of a gelatin content is not any decisive means at all for solving the problem, but a cause of the deteriorations of the white-background property and color reproducibility of the processed light-sensitive material. The simple increase thereof also produces, particularly, Y-stains, though the sweating phenomenon may be reduced to some extent.
On the other hand, silver halide emulsions having a high silver chloride content have preferably been used to meet the recent rapid-processing requirements. It is, however, found that some kind of highly silver chloride containing grains produce a desensitization caused by a physical pressure, and that the deteriorations are amplified in an emulsion containing the above-mentioned magenta couplers, though a rapid processing speed may be provided.
As for the means for improving the above-described pressure- desensitization and pressure-fog production, some methods have been known, in which any pressure does not affect silver halide grains, that is to say, the methods in which various gelatin, polymers and organic compounds are used in protective layers, interlayers or silver halide-containing layers.
There may be, for example, the combination use of the heterocyclic compounds given in British Patent No. 738,618, alkyl phthalates given in British Patent No. 738,637, alkyl esters given in British Patent No. 738,639, hydrophilic compounds including, particularly, polyhydric alcohol given in U.S. Pat. No. 2,960,404, carboxyalkyl cellulose given in U.S. Pat. No. 3,121,060, paraffin and carboxylates given in Japanese Patent 0.P.I. Publication No. 49-5017/1974, glycerol derivatives and ether or thioether compounds given in Japanese Patent 0.P.I. Publication No. 51-141623/1976, organic high boiling compounds not miscible with any hydrophilic binders given in Japanese Patent 0.P.I. Publication No. 53-85421/1978, alkyl acrylates and organic acids given in Japanese Patent Examined Publication No. 53-28086/1978, and liquid type UV absorbents and vinyl sulfon type hardeners given in Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication No. 63-46439/1988.
In the above-described methods, the improvement effects of pressure-desensitization are not yet satisfactory, so that there are demands for a light-sensitive material high in resistance against pressure-sensitization and pressure-desensitization which may be derived from the increase in the transport speed of an automatic processor introduced to meet the wide application of rapid processes.